The Fall of Man
by alexzinger123
Summary: Man can often be cruel to each other. Many times in our history have men fought over petty squabbles of race and religion, of politics and power, of coin and conquest. It is a well known fact of life that man is a wolf to man, but never in all history has man ever come so close to achieving pure evil as with World War Two, the darkest page of all human history... [Nazi!Germany]


France was pushed into a small, dingy room, falling flat on his face as he tripped down the stairs.

"Get up!" Germany's gruff voice ordered, grabbing France by the scruff of the neck and dragging him to his feet.

France was a mess. His clothes were ripped and torn, with patches of blood here and there, some his own, some not. His hair was all over the place, un-neat, and not at all like France would normally keep it. But this was only to be expected, after all, France had just been conquered by Germany. The German Blitzkrieg had completely taken him and Britian by surprise. They had expected trench warfare, akin to that of the Great War, and had built huge defenses on the Maginot Line, but Germany had other ideas. Even if war tactics had changed, France and Britian still did not expect Germany to go through Belgium! The damned Krauts just went through the Ardennes forest, an area that was supposed to act as a natural defense against such an invasion! Within weeks, Britian had evacuated from europe, Paris had fallen, and France was captured. The war, at least for France, was lost.

France looked around the room he was in, seeing very little as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room.

"Germany, why the hell have you brought me here? If it's to torture me you'll waste your time, I have nothing of worth to you!"

The German chuckled, shaking his head. Prussia, whom France had only just noticed was behind him, hit France in the back of the head.

"Wake up, froggy!" Prussia said with much laughter in his voice "Can't you see anyone you recognise here?"

France was about to retort, when he noticed other figures in the room around him. At first, he did not even notice the others in the room, but as his eyes adjusted, he began to make out shapes of objects, of beds and people. It was then he realised where he was, he was inside Germany's own Prison cell for captured countries. He could see all the nations that Germany had invaded, most looking perfectly well and healthy. He could see Belgium being comforted by her brother, the Netherlands, with Luxembourg close by. Denmark was without a single scratch, the same, however, could not be said for Norway, who had a few bandages here and there. Sitting alone, with by far the most bandages and bloodied uniform, was Poland. France's heart fell at the sight of Poland being so hurt; he had remembered all but instantly his failed promise to defend him, which may have been why the Pole did not even acknowledge that France was in the room.

"Why are all these nations kept in these conditions?" France exclaimed at Germany, who merely shrugged off the Frenchman's scorn, "This clearly violates multiple treaties on the treatment of prisoners of-" France was cut short as Prussia, finding his way behind France again, hit him hard in the back of the head with a baton. France fell to the floor in pain, holding the area where he was it in an attempt to reduce the pain, checking to see I there was any blood from the strike

"I believe that 'proper treatment of prisoners' is the least of the _Führer's_ concern, _Schweinhund._" Germany told France, with a sadistic grin on his face at his brother's actions.

France looked up at his captor with a pained expression on his face, only making Germany grin more.

"Why are you doing this? Not only to me, but to them! What have we done to deserve this?!"

"Oh you have done plenty," Germany said grimly, circling his captive like a vulture, "More than 20 years ago, my Kaiser failed to finish what he had started, failed to conquer France, to win the Great War. Because of his failure we were stripped of our armies, of our pride, of our very being! You, and your treaty of Versailles branded me and my brothers as the cause of that war, you gave us the fault and forced us to carry the crosses of the entire alliance on our own. The Reparations, the hyperinflation, the war guilt, all of it! You made our people weak and humiliated, and the_ Führer,_ the _Führer _made us strong once more! He tore up the treaty of Versailles; he gave us back our pride, our armies, our strength! He did in mere weeks what the Kaiser failed to do in 4 years, he conquered France! Don't you see what you have done, frog? By making us weak, you have given us purpose, a lust for vengeance; you have orchestrated your own demise!"

"Like, you have too…"

All eyes turned to the centre of the dark room and the source of the noise. Slowly, and with much pain evident on his face, Poland began to stand, his face filled with defiance against his oppressors.

"Like, so long as there is one person left who opposes you, one person who speaks out, one person who stands against you, you will never win, and one day, you will fail." Despite his usual self, Poland talked against his captors fiercely, and without fear, a certain glow surrounded him that France could not help but admire. Had the pole always had this fire burning inside of him? If so, he had kept it well hidden. He continued, "You, like, can conquer me, you can kill my people, but you can never break me, I will never stop fighting against you! You may have, like, totes defeated France and all that, but Britain is still around, he and his empire beat you once, and they'll beat you again! Even if he does, like, totally fail, there are others, America, China, even, like, that creepy Russia dude. You can totally fight, but in the end, you will find the world has turned against you, wherever you go, whoever you conquer, you will always see enemies, and there will always be someone to stand up against you! You can win, but you'll never defeat us!"

The room was silent for a while. Everyone staring straight at the blond, in shock and awe at his speech, until Germany began to clap. His clapping was unsettling. A slow and ironic clap that sent shivers down France's spine. Poland's defiance seemed to waver a bit at this, but it soon returned as he stared at Germany with a look of pure loathing.

"Fine words, _Untermensch, _however, I feel like you need some…Persuasion against your current ideals…These are very dangerous thoughts…_Bruder_, if you would be so kind as to…Persuade our friend here…"

"Poland! Behind you!" Denmark shouted

Before Poland had a chance to react, he was attacked by Prussia, who had found his way behind him during his speech. Poland fell to the floor, pain engulfing him, as Prussia kicked him in the gut, following with a barbaric attack against the Pole, kicking and hitting him with his baton again and again, over and over, unrelenting in his aggression.

"_Nie, proszę, nie! NIE!"_

France could not bear to watch. Poland's screams of pain filled his ears, making France feel sick. He sat on the floor like a child, helpless to aid his ally in any way. As he looked around the room, he saw others share his turmoil. Many looked as though they could not stand what they were forced to watch, Belgium was in tears, sobbing into the Netherland's shoulder as Luxembourg tried to calm her, yet she too was at the verge of tears. Netherlands and the Nordics simply watched in horror, even Norway was shocked at the barbarism in front of him. Germany simply watched with a rather bored expression on his face, as if he had seen this display a thousand times before. France debated silently on whom he hated more, Prussia or Germany.

Eventually, Prussia relented, leaving a whimpering, bloodied Poland lying before him, and began to circle him, similarly as to how Germany had circled France.

"Do you know why you always receive a worse punishment for defiance? Do you know why we always single you out?"

The pole could barely hold his own weight to lift himself off of the ground, his face half covered in his own blood.

"Because I'm the only one who still fights back?" The pole said, with all but a trace of his previous defiance extinguished.

"_Nein!" _The Prussian Kicked Poland in the gut once more, making him cough out more blood, rolling on the ground in pain. "It is because you are an _Untermensch, _an inferior being, a disgrace amongst all the rest of mankind. You are like rats, and your kind must be exterminated!"

Prussia grabbed Poland roughly by the throat, not strangling him, but certainly squeezing tightly enough to labour Poland's breath, pulling him up to eye level.

"You and the rest of your Slavic kind have been deemed impure by our beloved _Führer_, and as such, you are deemed not fit to be treated as humans, but as the filth you are. Our _Führer _has great things in store for Eastern Europe, you, Russia, Serbia and your Baltic friends will all pay the price for your inferiority…"

It was brief. Ever so brief. A minor lapse in Poland's composure. The slightest hint of fear coursed through Poland's face. It was only for a moment, France had barely noticed it, one could have blinked and not been any wiser. However, Prussia caught wind of Poland's moment of weakness, and began to exploit it.

"Was that fear I saw in your face, _Untermensch_? Fear of what? Of me? No…You do not fear me, nor do you fear Germany, you are stronger than that…Ah…perhaps you fear FOR something, or perhaps, someone?"

Poland's eyes momentarily met Prussia's, before Poland turned away, but he had already given the Prussian all he needed.

"Ah…I see…You fear for your friend, don't you? You fear for dear Lithuania…"

Any sense of defiance Poland had was now washed away and replaced by fear. His face turned to meet Prussia's victorious grin, consumed by a sense of sheer terror for his friend.

"I see...You would never break to physical pain…No…That's too blunt for one such as you…But If I were to use psychological warfare, now we receive results, _ja?"_

"I-If…You dare…To hurt L-Lithuania…I-I'll-"

"You'll what?! Make Warsaw my capital?!" Prussia Laughed, "In case you haven't noticed, you know have a new capital, Berlin. Oh, and don't worry…I'll make sure to tell Lithuania you said hi, in fact, I'll make sure that Lithuania wished he never met you, especially when I tell him that his torture is ALL. YOUR. FAULT."

Poland looked as though he was about to erupt with emotion. Fear, anger, hatred, such emotions and more melded in his face, making France pity the poor country far more than he ever did. Prussia simply gave him an amused look, laughing while he did so.

"What's wrong, _Untermensch_? Do you want to say something?"

Poland's fury seemed to build to a point that most men would consider unimaginable, despite his position, despite his pain, despite his very self, Poland spat straight into Prussia's face.

The room was silent. Everyone in the room was once again shocked by the brave Pole's actions. Even Germany gained full interest in the situation at this action. Prussia wiped the spit from his face, his own fury building.

"Why you little…"

Prussia went to strike Poland once more, making the Pole flinch, preparing himself for untold pain, when a voice echoed across the room.

"Prussia! Don't you dare touch him!"

Everyone in the room stared at the door frame to see Hungary standing there, her face livid with anger, staring straight at Prussia. Behind her, rather meekly, stood Austria, with a face of concern and fear, obviously having tried to persuade Hungary against going down the stairs to the room. Prussia let go of Poland, his usual arrogant self overtaking his previous sadism

"Ah, Hungary!" Prussia said, a wide smile stretching across his face as he walked towards Hungary, "Come to watch the awesome me, have you?" It was nice, France thought, to have the normal Prussia back. Something happens to Countries when revolutions and dictators install themselves, they change, France knew this from experience, he himself had seen a number of dictators in his time, Napoleon in particular was a dark time in his history, but France had never seen anything like this, this was beyond cruel and unusual, this was an all-new form of unprecedented evil. While Prussia may have walked towards Hungary with a lighter, friendlier air about him, Hungary marched towards him with fury in her eyes, before she punched the Prussian in the nose.

Prussia recoiled from the attack, "OW! UNAWESOME! What the hell did you do that for?" Prussia yelled at Hungary, who continued to show a face of loathing towards him.

"Save it, Prussia! I know exactly what you are doing down here, and you know just as well as I how to treat prisoners! What you are doing is wrong!"

"What's you problem anyway? The only one we hurt is Poland!"

"That's exactly my problem!" Hungary's voice intensified, "You know we're friends! You know the saying, 'Pole and Hungarian, two good friends'? You know what's my problem!" Hungary was practically screaming at Prussia at this point, who simply rolled his eyes at her arguments.

"Hungary, he's the enemy! Everyone here is! They are all allied scum! It just so happens that Poland is also Slavic, and as such, is inferior to us!"

Hungary turned, "Austria!" She said, running to her ex-husband "Do something! Back me up! You're just as much in league with this as they are!" despite her cries for help, Austria did nothing; he did not even look at Hungary. He stood there, silent to what was happening around him.

"Austria has no reason to help you, Hungary…"

Hungary turned to be met with Germany, whom had resigned to hiding in the shadows, watching as Hungary and Prussia had their little fight.

"For all intents and purposes, Austria doesn't even have any power to do anything, now. He has accepted what has come to pass, and you, as a member of the axis, must do the same. Because you are part of the axis, no one here, not even Poland, is to be considered your 'friend'. I cannot persuade you to share our way of thinking, to agree that there are some in the world who are inferior by design, but what I can do is tell you that you have no power over how we treat our prisoners, and you would do well to remember that, regardless of how friendly you are with our friend on the floor over there." He gestured towards Poland, who lay, unmoving, on the ground,

Hungary made a move to help him, only to be stopped by Prussia, who tried to hug her.

"Let go of that pole, Hungary, his life is meaningless, anyway…"

"Don't touch me, Prussia!" Hungary pulled away from Prussia's grip, slapping him as she did so, "What happened to you? You've changed, Prussia! You're not the man that I used to lo-" She stopped herself short, her words failing her as she spoke, her head falling down to stare at her shoes.

"The man you used to what? To loathe?" Prussia laughed, walking slowly towards her, stopping just in front of her.

"No…" Hungary looked up, tears welling in her eyes, "The man I used to love…" Before Prussia could react, Hungary promptly pushed him out of the way and ran out of the room without another word, followed quickly by Austria, calling out for her to stop.

The room, once again, was silent. Prussia stood in the centre of the room, staring at the stair way where Hungary had just left through. The only sound to be heard in the room was the moaning of pain coming from Poland, who was currently being comforted by Belgium, who had went to his aid the moment Prussia was distracted with Hungary's exit. Prussia had little emotion on his face, other than a state of shock. It was clear that he did not expect Hungary's answer to his snide question; certainly he had never expected her to say anything akin to what she did. After what seemed an eternity, Prussia, silently began to walk out of the room, mumbling incomprehensible words to himself as he did so.

Germany took his brother's place in the centre of the room, clearing his throat and turning to France.

"Now, France," he began, "I am to give you two choices. One; you stay down here, in these decrepit conditions, and share in the blissful ignorance of your fellow allies. Or two; you co-operate with us. I have no reason to conquer all of your country, and will make you a deal. So long as you cede Alsace-Lorraine to us, and allow us to occupy the North of your country, in order to act as a base for our invasion of Britain, we will allow you to remain a nation, in the south, just as long as you swear fealty to me and our _Führer_"

France thought through his decision. Alsace-Lorraine was Germany's no matter what he chose to do, France knew that. If France were to refuse, that would leave Britain totally on his own, with no chance for support. However, if France were to take the deal, he would still remain a country, a satellite state to Germany, perhaps, but a country none the less, it would also enable him to, perhaps, work with Britain from inside the enemy's lines.

France looked up at Germany, having made his decision, "_Vas bien_, I accept your offer, Germany…"

Surprisingly, Germany held out his hand to his former enemy. France took his hand with some hesitancy, only to be pulled to his feet by the surprisingly strong Germany.

"_Gut! _Now, if you'll follow me, France._"_

Germany left the room, expecting France to follow, while France turned to look at all the rest of the prisoners of war, saying;

"Do not worry _mes ami_! So long as one of us remains to fight against Germany, we shall never be defeated, and it just so happens that there is one left who can fight him, and I doubt he will ever give up too easily!" He looked straight at Poland, who stared back, barely awake after his beating, but still fighting on. "Poland, you are without a doubt the bravest nation I have seen, do not worry, soon we will come to save you, all of you, but to do that, we need to first win this war!" The two exchanged a smile as France left the room, bidding his friend's goodbye. As France left the darkness of the room, he was greeted by the bright outside, a stark contrast to the claustrophobic conditions below. France thought over what he had said, hoping, praying that Britain would be able to hold out against Germany, knowing well enough it would take more than just Britain to stop him.

* * *

Hello again, everyone! My second, much more darker fic! Again, like with that last, major thanks to for helping me out with the fic!  
As the title says, this is a fic based around world war 2, and as such, Germany and Prussia are portrayed with Nazi ideals. Now, let me be clear, I despise Nazism with the deepest form of hate. I am full blooded Polish, and it hurt so much to have to write Poland being beat up, but it's all because it fit's the time the story is set. Now, world war 2 was a difficult time for everyone, especially in Europe, but in no way am I trying to insult or disrespect anyone by this fic! If you don't like Nazi-based fiction, please do not read!

As for the history of the fic, it's set in 1940. Hitler had, in mere months, successfully invaded Poland, Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. The British Expeditionary Force had already evacuated the continent via the Dunkirk evacuations, and it seemed as if the German War machine was unstoppable. Now, the Nazi's ideology, as infamous as it was, was to exterminate all those they deemed "Racially inferior" to the "Superior" Aryan race (IE, Germanic) and one of the races deemed impure was the slavics (Russia, Poland, Baltics etc) Hitler's ultimate plan was to create "Lebensraum" or "living space" for the German people, by invading and conquering East Europe, enslaving or exterminating their population. There were not many people who spoke out against the government, especially not early on. Most were too scared of the government to do so, and those who did were taken away to concentration camps to be worked to death. The Nazi Police state had agents everywhere. Little do many people know, Hungary was actually a part of the Axis powers, lured into the coalition by the Nazi's gift of parts of Czechoslovakia to Hungary. Austria became part of Germany through the Anschluss, or political annexation, of Austrian land, even though such an act was deemed illegal by the Treaty of Versailles, which Hitler had been crossing ever since around 1935 when he announced Germany was no longer to follow, and, as he correctly anticipated, the allies did nothing to intervene. The treaty also included Germany being responsible for world war 1, and having to pay 132 billion Marks (then $31.4 billion or £6.6 billion, roughly equivalent to US $442 billion or UK £284 billion in 2013) to the allies in war reparations, which bankrupted the country and lead to prices skyrocketing with hyperinflation.

* * *

Foreign words time!

_Schweinhund- _Literally, pig dog

_Untermensch- _Sub-human

_Nie, proszę, nie! NIE!- No, please, don't! NO!_

_Vas bien- _Alright, okay

_mes ami- _my friends


End file.
